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Dumebi Kachikwu, presidential candidate of African Democratic Congress (ADC) has advised Nigerians to publicly engage presidential candidates of political parties, on their vision for Nigeria, ahead of 2023 general election.
Kachikwu said this in a statement on Friday in Abuja while urging Nigerians to attend the ADC town hall meeting on Nov. 6 in Abuja.
He said rather than complaining or having social media arguments about the candidates, Nigerians should engage them publicly to underscore their visions for the country.
“I just want to take a minute to invite the public to a town hall meeting on the state of our nation that I’m holding at the A-class Event Centre, Maitama, Abuja,
“It’s going to be live-streamed and I will answer questions from folks all over the world.
“So I’m hoping Nigerians would take a break from complaining in their private spaces about our country and join me in having solutions-based conversations on what we can do to move our country forward,” he said.
Kachikwu said that the meeting sought to address various issues affecting the country such as, the economy, insecurity, unemployment, affordable housing, “japa syndrome,” corruption and #EndSars.
He appealed to Nigerian youths planing to leave the country for greener pastures to have a rethink, urging them to rather engage him and other presidential candidates in open conversation on the way forward to improve Nigeria.
Kachikwu called on all stakeholders, youths and well meaning Nigerians to actively participate in the meeting and to also invite friends to engage in the various discussions physically or via live-streaming.
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
Mr Dumebi Kachikwu, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Presidential Candidate, has cautioned Nigerians against fake news, saying it could further aggravate the security situation in the country.
Kachikwu said this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja.
He also appealed to Nigerians to have faith in the security agencies in order to collectively defeat insecurity.
“This we must not let happen.
The price of peace is eternal vigilance and vigilance must be our watchword.
“We must have faith in our security agencies and their ability to protect us.
“We must support, encourage and provide them with any relevant information.
“These terrorists won’t steal our peace or way of life if we stand shoulder to shoulder to defeat them,” he said.
He advised Nigerians to report suspicious movements to the nearest security post for action.
Kachikwu also urged Nigerians to remain united and committed to the collective vision for a better nation that worked for everyone.
According to him, Nigerians must remain resolute in the defence of the country’s hard won liberty and freedom.
He said that only Nigerians could put an end to security challenge by waging a collective war against it.
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) Zamfara Chapter, on Saturday organised a one day dialogue with governorship candidates of political parties on health sector in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the dialogue was part of the activities of 2022 Physicians’ Week in the state.
The event has the theme, “Health Care Delivery System and the 2023 Democratic Transition: A time to Change the Narrative.
Only three candidates participated in the dialogue – Alhaji Sagir Dansadau of the National Rescue Movement (NRM), Dr Ahmad Hashim of African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Dr Dauda Lawal of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who was represented by Dr Aliyu Tsafe.
The state NMA Chairman, Dr Sanusi Bello, said the dialogue aimed to give opportunities to candidates of political parties in the state to inform people of the state their agenda for health sector.
Bello, represented by the state Vice Chairman of the Association, Dr Ibrahim Jibril, said the event was organised, considering the Democratic Transition ahead of 2023 general elections.
“You know, we the medical doctors and health sector in general, have many challenges and those challenges can be solved with political will.
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“This is also aimed at addressing the worrisome issues in health care sector such as brain drain due to low pay and low motivation for health workers.
“Other problems include issue of out-of-pockets expenditure, to sponsor health care treatment for vulnerable groups and less privileged, among others,” he added.
The moderator of the dialogue, and former NMA Chairman in the state, Dr Mannir Bature, commended the governorship candidates for attending the event.
Bature described their responses as good steps in addressing the challenges facing health care sector in the state.
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
Mr Emmanuel Oyewole, the running-mate to the governorship candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) for the 2023 election in Oyo State, has defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Oyewole announced his defection to PDP on Friday in Ibadan
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Dr Ganiyu Ajadi is the governorship candidate of ADC for the election.
Addressing newsmen at the Nigerian Union of Journalists’ (NUJ) Conference Hall, Oyewole said he had defected to PDP to support the re-election bid of Gov.Seyi Makinde.
“I and my followers, spread across the state, have considered this decision and I can say with all sense of responsibility that I have taken this decision in the interest of Oyo State.
“Truth be told, going by the good governance and masterful administration of Gov. Seyi Makinde, the 2023 governorship election in the state should have only one clear contender.
“And that is the incumbent governor, because as they say, one good ‘term’ deserves another”,he said.
Oyewole said the administration of Gov. Makinde was gradually transforming Oyo State to the dream state of residents.
According to him,the different success stories of the Makinde administration in human capacity development, infrastructure development, economic expansion are praise-worthy.
Oyewole said Makinde had also done well in the areas of education, security of lives and properties and health care delivery .
“As loyal and patriotic indigenes of Oyo State, I and the teeming members of the ADC who had earlier signed to my aspiration as ADC deputy governorship candidate, we want these positive developments to continue.
“And we believe that only Gov. Makinde can make this possible,” Oyewole added.
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
The Presidential Candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Mr Dumebi Kachikwu on Friday, expressed sympathy to the flood victims in Kogi.
Dumebi, while speaking at a town hall meeting in Lokoja, commiserated with the flood victims and families of those who lost their lives and property due to flooding.
“We cannot allow our people to continue to suffer hardships; this flood has cost us billions, several lives lost, farmlands and property destroyed.
“We must start thinking differently.
We must know what we have and what we can do with the available resources,” he said.
Dumebi stressed the need to start re-planning by going back to the basis where the nation got it wrong.
According to him, the country needs to get experts to come and examine our flood patterns to understand the gravity of flooding in every season; to know what we need to do.
He noted that the current available drainage was not enough, stressing the need to start building proper drainage and dams to ensure that cities were protected.
Speaking on revitalisation of Ajaokuta Steel Company Ltd., Dumebi said that he would ensure that private sector participants who would understand the value in the company to come and make it work.
He emphasised that some vested interests had stopped the steel company from working for years.
Dumebi assured the people of his commitment and vision to turn things around and alleviate their suffering as well as Nigeria at large.
He, therefore, urged the people to vote for him and all the ADC candidate at all levels across the state come 2023.
Also speaking, the ADC Board of Trustee Chairperson, Sen. Patricia Akwashiki, commiserated with Kogi people for loss of lives and property as a result of flood disaster that ravaged the state.
Akwashiki urged the people not to sell their votes as power now rested in their hands, stressing that 2023 election would never be the same like before.
On his part, Mrs Justina Abanida, the National Legal Adviser, urged the people to rally round the presidential candidate and vote massively for ADC.
Earlier, the ADC State’s Chairman, Mr Kingsley Ogga, assured the presidential candidate that Kogi remained a stronghold of ADC.
Ogga promised that they would deliver the state in a landslide victory for ADC at the poll in the 2023 presidential elections.
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
A Governorship Candidate in Abia, Bishop Sunday Onuoha, says he will phase out analogue with the digitisation of the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in the state, if elected.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Onuoha is running on the platform of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
He spoke on Monday at a media forum organised by the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Abia Council.
He was accompanied at the interactive session by his Running Mate, Mrs Ngozi Nwasinmuo, and state Chairman of ADC, Mr Obioma Onwukaike.
Onuoha blamed the gross underdevelopment of Abia on the failure by the economy operators to disengage from analogue to digitisation.
According to the clergyman, you cannot grow modern economy in an analogue style.
“Modern economy must be digital so that whatever you are producing people can buy it without physically travelling to your shop.
“Unless we open our eyes to get into other ways of doing business, we will be wasting our energy here.
“This is how the micro economy is going to be strengthened through the digitisation of the small scale enterprises,” the governorship hopeful said.
He promised to engage local government chairmen, traditional institution and the Church in governance.
The Methodist Church cleric decried the systemic marginalisation of traditional rulers and clergymen, who are advocates of transparency and accountability, from governance.
He said the onus rested squarely on the media to champion the cause of transparency and also hold public office holders accountable for public funds in their custody.
He said: “The Office of the Governor is a public office, so the governor must account to the people.
“If the politicians also succeed in compromising the media, like they did to the traditional institutions and clergymen, then the country will totally collapse,” he said.
Onuoha, who is the Founder of Umuahia-based Vision Africa Radio, blamed the media for not interrogating politicians enough, saying, “this is one of the problems in society”.
As a former Special Adviser to former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Privatisation Matters, he said that he would explore many channels to create employment for the teeming youths.
Onuoha also promisee to leverage his contact and proven integrity to attract huge support from Abia people in diaspora toward the economic transformation of the state.
He said that Diaspora Abia people were desirous to come home and invest but lacked the requisite trust in the people in government.
He expressed concern that successive administrations in the state had not seen the need to revive the Nsulu Games Village to develop sports and tourism potentials of the state.
He promised to reopen the facility the first day he assumes office as governor because of its potential to create over 10,000 jobs for sports, entertainment and tourism.
Onuoha considers himself the most suited for the job, saying that he had not been put on trial by any anti-graft for any corruption charges in all his public life.
He said: “Let’s put searchlight on all of us that are going for governorship of Abia.
“Whoever that comes clean should become our governor.
“I’m the one that will come clean because I have not mortgaged my conscience, neither have I mortgaged anything against other people.
“I also do not have no baggage around me.
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The ADC standard bearer further spoke on his plan to fully engage traditional rulers in the fight against insecurity in the state.
He regretted that royal fathers, who are the custodians of security in their communities, were not financially empowered to be able to discharge the duty of fighting crime and criminality.
He said that he would ensure that funds would be allocated to them so that they would complement government’s efforts in crime prevention.
The cleric, who had been in the forefront of the struggle for for the release of the Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, said that negotiations were still ongoing.
He reaffirmed his belief that the Federal Government’s case against Kanu required a political solution.
He said that Kanu’s continued incarceration had been largely responsible for the security breaches in the South-East.
Onuoha also spoke on his plans to transform the health sector, saying that he had purchased a multi-million dollars mobile medwww.
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
Bishop Ndukwe Onuoha, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Gubernatorial Candidate in Abia, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remain apolitical during the 2023 General Elections.
Onuoha spoke in Umuahia at a media forum organised by the Correspondents Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Abia Council.
He said: “INEC has a significant role to play in the emergence of a new administration by May 29.
“Therefore, it must remain an objective umpire to ensure that the process will be transparent.
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Onuoha urged the commission to be wary of unscrupulous politicians that would be bent on manipulating the electoral process to favour them.
He expressed concern that such desparate politicians would want to frustrate the efforts so far made to improve the country’s electoral process.
He alleged that some mischievous persons in a certain local government area of the state were already denying registered voters access to their Permanent Voter Card because they did not belong to certain political parties.
“INEC must make sure that they outsmart the smart politicians, who never want the process to be transparent or who may never want the will of the people to be.
“Past elections were all about sharing unused ballot papers among the high and mighty politicians to increase the number of votes they get at the polls.
“This time, the music has changed because one of the major determinants of the outcome of the process is the PVC,” the governorship hopeful said
He commended the commission for its efforts during the Ekiti and Osun Gubernatorial Elections in June and July, respectively.
He opined that the outcomes of the two exercises offered hope for ampositive outcome in the upcoming general elections.
Onuoha said that the outcomes were indicators that the investments made by the Federal Government to transform the commission had paid off.
He described the Electoral Act 2020 (as amended) as the divine will of God and hope of the average Nigerian for a better state and Federal Government.
The clergyman, who is the President, Vision Africa International, a media outfit with headquarters in Umuahia, said he resolved to join partisan politics after the Act was amended and assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari.
Onuoha said that with the implementation of the Act, he was confident that INEC would live up to the people’s expectation.
He said that the provisions of the law ensured that there would be “no loopholes” for manipulation during the polls
He, therefore, expressed optimism that votes would count in the elections, with the electronic voting and transmission of the voting results for everybody to see.
Onuoha said that the innovations by INEC would help to ensure that individuals with capacity for the task ahead would be elected as Abia governor.
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
Ahead of the 2023 general elections, INEC in Lagos State says 394 candidates of different political parties are jostling for the 40 seats in the state’s House of Assembly.
The News Agency of Nigeria recalls that governorship and houses of assembly elections were scheduled to hold across the country on March 11, 2023.
According to the Final List of governorship and house of assembly candidates displayed on Wednesday at the commission’s office in Yaba, 16 candidates of different political parties are contesting for the 2023 governorship election in Lagos state.
The list was signed by Mrs Rose Oriaran-Anthony, the Secretary of INEC.
According to the list, the candidates for the assembly seats in Lagos state are contesting on the platform of 16 out of the 18 registered political parties in the country.
The list showed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC), Action Democratic Party (ADP), Labour Party (LP) and New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) had contestants in all the 40 state constituencies.
While the Action Alliance (AA) and Social Democratic Party (SDP) fielded candidates in 36 state constituencies each, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) and Boot Party (BP) had candidates for 34 state constituencies each.
The African Action Congress (AAC) is contesting in 21 state constituencies while Accord (A), Action People’s Party (APP), Allied Peoples Movement (APM), National Rescue Movement (NRM), Young Progressives Party (YPP) and People’s Redemption Party (PRP) filed candidates in less than 10 state constituencies each.
The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) did not field candidates for the state assembly election in the state.
NAN reports that the governorship list shows that only 16 of the 18 registered political parties fielded contestants, out of which only two candidates are female while the remaining 14 are male.
Only candidates of APM and APP are female, Mrs Funmilayo Kupokiyi, 51, and Mrs Abiola Adeyemi, 44 respectively.
The other governorship candidates are Messrs Dickson Olaogun (A), Abdulrasaq Balogun (AA), Akeem Olayiwola (AAC), Olufunso Doherty( ADC), Bamidele Ishola (ADP), Babajide Sanwo-Olu (APC), Olawale Oluwo (BP), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (LP) and Olanrewaju Jim-Kamal (NNPP).
Others are: Braithwaite Ishola (NRM), Olajide Adediran (PDP), Taofeek Uthman (SDP), Wasiu Ajayi (YPP) and Adenipebi Mode-Adekunle (ZLP).
APGA and PRP did not field candidates for the governorship seat in the list published for the 2023 general elections.
According to the list, Olaogun (65) of Accord Party is oldest while Rhodes-Vivour (39) of LP is the youngest.
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
Solomon Peter, a House of Representatives candidate on the platform of African Democratic Congress (ADC), said Nigeria will be greater after the 2023 General Elections.
Peter, who is vying for and Yangtu Federal Constituency election, said the year presented hope for free, credible and transparent elections.
He told journalists on the sidelines of 62nd Independence Anniversary thanksgiving service in Jalingo on Sunday, that the election would turn in good leaders into various elective positions.
The candidate said though Nigeria has not reached where it was supposed to be at 62, there was need for Nigerians to be grateful to God for keeping the country together in spite of challenges confronting it.
“We are not where we are supposed to be as a nation, but all hope is not lost, by electing good leaders through the use of BVAS and electronic transmition of results, the narrative will change for the better.
“Democracy is the best thing that has happened to us as a nation, but we are not practising it the right way, we need to build a system that will work for us and for the future.
“We need to build strong institutions to support our democracy, not strong individuals that would end up enriching themselves and their families at the expense of public good.
“To achieve this we must learn to elect people based on competence and track record not tribal or religious sentiments,” he said.
Peter said that his candidature was a true reflection of the yearnings and aspirations of the people, adding that he would promote inclusiveness, youth and women empowerment, if elected.
This, he said, could be achieved through quality representation towards promoting peaceful coexistence to address youth restiveness in the area.
Peter also pledged to lobby for viable projects in the area of water supply, roads, healthcare, education and agriculture for the overall wellbeing of the people.
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
The South-East Zonal chapter of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has carpeted APC and PDP for their alleged inability to end the rising security challenges in the zone.
The National Vice Chairman of the party in the zone, Mr Chilos Godsent, made the remark on Saturday, while briefing newsmen at the end of the party’s Zonal Working Committee’s bi-monthly meeting held in Umuahia.
The statement was entitled, “2023 General Elections: ADC must take over South-East in a landslide in order to restore development, peace and security in the region”.
Godsent said that it was unfortunate that insecurity and poverty had continued to escalate under the watch of the two leading political parties sharing power at the centre, states and local government areas.
He said: “Emphatically speaking, no fewer than 100 people die every week in the South-East as a result of the rising cases of kidnapping, armed robberies, banditry, ritual killings, depression and hunger, amongst other crimes.
“These have scared away investors and tourists, who were willing to come and invest in the region.
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Godsent blamed the alarming security breaches in the area on the lack of progressive economic blueprint, workable educational system and infrastructure.
He said that the ugly development led to the increase in economic crises, hardship and human capital flight in the zone.
“It is now obvious that the APC and PDP-led governments in the South-East have no ideas and workable solutions to the rising insecurity and sufferings in the region,” he said.
The ADC chieftain therefore urged the electorate to take advantage of the “2023 ballot revolution” to vote out APC and PDP in the zone.
He expressed the confidence that the party would sweep the governorship and legislative seats in the upcoming polls in the zone.
He said that ADC remained the only viable party with the vision and capacity to transform and develop the region.
He said that the ADC in the zone endorsed the expulsion of the party’s Presidential Candidate, Mr Dumebi Kachikwu.
He opined that the action by the party’s National Working Committee would not affect its electoral fortunes in 2023.
The party advised the Federal Government to yield to the demands of the striking university lecturers in order to end the protracted impasse.
It also urged the National Assembly to reject the Water Resources Bill, describing it as ill-conceived and not in conformity with the principle of federal system of government.
The chairmen of the party in Abia and Imo, Messrs Obioma Onwukaike and Ignatius Nlem, said that the party had become the alternate choice in their respective states for those desiring good governance.
Onwukaike said that the party had overcome its recent leadership crisis and commenced voter mobilisation in the 17 Local Government Areas for 2023.
He said that the election would provide the people the opportunity to elect a clergyman as governor for the first time since the state was created in 1991.
He described the party’s Gubernatorial Flag Bearer, Bishop Ndukwe Onuoha, as the best of all the candidates to win the election.
NewsSourceCredit: NAN
